Gentle Giant

The Selfish Giant

By Kristin Walter, based on the fairy tale by Oscar Wilde
Music and Lyrics by Larisa Bryski
Directed by Bruce Merrill
Vital Theatre Company
432 West 42nd St., 3rd floor (592-4508)
Non-union production (Sat. at 11:00 a.m.; closes Feb. 26)
Review by Julie Halpern

Will the next generation of theatregoers be sacrified on the altar
of computer games and Barney? Judging by the standing room crowds
at Vital Theatre's innaugural children's theatre production -
on the coldest Saturday of the year it might be added - it's safe
to assume that children and their parents still love good theatre.
Kristin Walters's charming adaptation of Oscar Wilde's fairytale
about a giant who builds a wall around his garden so no children
can play there is as relevant for millennial children as it was
to Wilde's Victorian readers. The giant doesn't realize that without
the sound of children's laughter, spring will never come, and
he must suffer winter throughout the year. He is redeemed when
the very children he banished from the garden risk his anger and
scale the fence to the garden, restoring it to springtime once
again.

Director Bruce Merrill earned top marks for his high-energy pacing,
guiding his game, attractive cast through complicated, fast-paced
maneuvers in a small space and making it look easy. Kristy
Castora, Cara Pontillo, Jennifer Ronald, and
Michael Schiffer as the kids grabbed the audience's attention
and maintained it throughout - not easy with the world's toughest
audience. Ryan Paulson's soft-spoken, lonely Giant - not
the bellowing tyrant one might have expected - instantly endeared
himself to the audience. Castora, Pontillo, Ronald and Schiffer
executed choreographer Stephanie Sowa's delightful fantasy
of Snow, Frost, Wind and Hail with flair, enhanced by Sowa's flowing
pastel costumes. Larisa Bryski's uplifting music was quite
effective, but the singers seemed uncomfortable singing in such
a low key.

Michael Schloegl's simple, ingenious set utilized styrofoam
hail, silver paper cutouts as snowflakes, and confetti as snow,
dropped from the light loft. By the end of the play, the stage
looked as colorful and cluttered as a successful children's birthday
party.Box Score: